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Bewick’s Wren & Cooper’s Hawk

It was back out to the Boundary Bay area this last afternoon of the four day Easter long weekend. Not long into my walk there was one song that caught my attention.

It was that of a Bewick’s Wren.

Unfortunately, from a photography perspective, it stayed in amongst the bramble and dead fall. It would not perch any higher with a cleaner background, but this is how you would often see them.

The other highlight of the afternoon,

… was a pair of Cooper’s Hawks. This one being the female with unfinished prey.

The male was not far away being just a little further in to the stand of trees. You can also see some fresh blood on its breast feathers and a full crop. Both had just eaten and were content to roost in the trees not being concerned with me while I took my photos. This is likely the pair that has been nesting in this area the last few years.

It was also nice to finally see blossoms coming out on some of the trees. These actually tie in with the Cooper’s Hawk in that the tree with the pink blossoms is where they nested last year.

Bittern, Night-Heron & Eagle

The Easter long weekend is always one of the busiest at Reifel. It was my turn to volunteer and help out on the trails today. With the good weather continuing there was no shortage in visitors to the sanctuary. While still fairly quiet on the birding front,

… an American bittern was present again in the northwest pond delighting those that had the chance to see it. It was coming and going to the same area all day.

Later in the afternoon two of the remaining Black-crowned Night-Heron started moving around. One was fishing in Fuller’s Slough, but unfortunately was hidden by trees. The other was flitting about the trees,

… and ended up in one across from the foot of the east dyke trail. Roosting in plain view and unobstructed by branches does not happen often here with these birds. Needless to say once the camera was set up on it, I had a steady stream of admirers stopping to take a look. So much so, I finished off my afternoon here.

And just for fun on the way home,

… this shot of a Bald Eagle taking off from a tree top.

Birds By The Seashore

It was a beautiful day to start the Easter long weekend. While I managed to hit more than one spot, the only one with birds cooperating was along the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway.